Information Architecture in Vista

I have been running Vista for a while now. Not once have I had a real crash. A few applications have crashed here and there, and that is going to happen on any OS/platform. Applications have problems at times. It's no big deal.

Each release of Vista during the RC/beta process was better and better. It was faster, and more cohesive. I really love the search in the control panel. Ever since Windows 3.1, I could never find the right icon for what I needed to do. The control panel was always the worst designed aspect of the system. Just a giant switchboard interface, with no real guidance, or rhyme or reason. It lacked any sense of Information Architecture. It was a firehose of options.

Windows XP tried to fix that, with the groupings, and what not, but I always clicked it back to 'classic view' when I setup my profile because I had become comfortable with the dysfunctional menu, and didn't like the menu aimed for 'everyday' people.

Vista has even more items in the control panel. They improved the 'everyday' person (joe lunchpail) interface by improving the groupings, so that isn't too bad. They helped the experience, but not expert user, by promoting common used features to the grouping level. But the best thing is the search bar on the control panel window. I just type in what I am looking for, and it comes up.

This is a perfect example of a tiered information architecture. Architects think too much about the backed, and they leave users out. Thats fine, it will get better, as architects start to focus on the whole application, and not just the gears behind the curtain. Those architects that do pay attention to UX and IA will produce better applications, which will help their users kick ass, which is what architecture and development is all about.

So what is this tiered IA?

Tiered IA means that 70% of the screen/window is for novice/new users, 20% is dedicated to experienced/return users, and 10% to 'expert' users. In this case, a novice can plumb through the well labeled categories to find what they want. To protect against going down blind alleys, or ambiguous groupings, an item may be found in several areas.

For regular or return users, the common functions have been promoted to the category list.

For those experts that know what they are looking for (and expert here means someone who is very familiar with a system, not someone with a MCSD.) they can just go directly to that.

A side effect in this case is that the expert search bar is very useful to the other categories of users as well.

This tiered approach is used on a lot of B2C web sites that really need to cater to a wide audience. The bulk of the main landing page is about what the site does (perhaps explains what eBay does, or who the bank is). Then a portion is for regular users; they can get some information (most active auctions, today's rates, etc.). That last group is served usually by very dense and abbreviated information. A small login cluster is the most common example of this.

I don't plan on turning on classic mode in my Control Panel. I plan on searching every time.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Farewell

I don't often explicitly state that I work for Quick Solutions when I post to my blog. Others that work with me talk about QSI all the time. I do this because I want the articles to be what 'I' have to say about technology, not what QSI has to say. I started working for QSI in June of 2003. I was about to start my own consulting company, and they asked me to come in to help them start their solutions business (having built a high quality technical staffing business). I thought, why not? Getting to build what I want to build on someone else's dime definitely reduces my personal risk, and if it didn't work out, I could just pick back up the 'start my own company' thing. Nearly five years have passed, and we have built a great team. A team that is considered one of the leading development shops in our region. Each, and EVERY person on this team would be considered a rock star at any company. We have a great culture for the team, and a deep seated ownership...
Read more

How does an Architect pack?

Today we are packing for the big move. Quick Solutions is moving to some new swanky office space, with an awesome new delivery center. The new center has wall to wall whiteboards, network projectors for group programming (pair programming is so 20th century), a game room, new open seating (shared workspace is the key to productivity), and lots of other new goodies. It is an amazing investment by the company, and shows their commitment to building the best team on the block. As we are packing, we started joking around (not that joking around is rare, and would have occurred regardless of the packing state). How does and architect pack? An architect doesn't pack anymore. He did that ten years ago. He goes to plenty of packing conferences, and has read a lot of books on packing. An architect will map out how the whole enterprise should pack, and even dictate what (clearly out of date) packing supplies and processes should be used. These processes will be the perfect match for some ...
Read more

Job security is a myth, and how IT Pros are Thriving

No matter how you slice it, the economy is definitely in a state of concern. Some call it a recession, some a depression, others it is a crash. Since all of those words are overloaded, I will choose to use the word Grapefruit to represent the current situation. How concerned you are with grapefruit depends on who you are, and your personal situation. It is these times of grapefruit when there is the most opportunity. Crazy, I know. But now is the time to start that crazy idea, to outmaneuver an opponent, or get desperate enough to take risks you normally wouldn’t take (personally, or as a company) during up times. All boats float in the high tide. Only great captains can navigate the low tide. There is no such thing as job security. Surprise. There just isn’t, it is a complete myth. ‘Job Security’ might have made sense two generations ago, but it just doesn’t work now. You make your own security, during good times, and during grapefruits. Through keeping your skills sharp, thro...
Read more